As a founder member of Mystery Women in 1997, promoting Crime Fiction has always been my passion.
Following the closure of Mystery Women, a new group was formed on 30th January 2012 promoting crime fiction.
New reviews are posted daily, but to search for earlier reviews please click on the Mystery People link below and select 'reviews' from the welcome page. This will display an alphabetic option for you to find the review you would like to read

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Wednesday, 30 April 2014

If you have ever read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and
enjoyed it, then you will probably love this book, or you will hate it!This is the story of Frankenstein’s monster,
from his viewpoint.

In this side of
the story, the real monster is the doctor himself, killing and framing people
to get the body parts and the personalities he needs.As you view his work through the eyes of his
monster (once one Friedrich Hoffman, a respected chemist) you hear how
Frankenstein frames Friedrich by murdering his fiance and then, once he is put
to death for the murder, Frankenstein uses his body to try and create new life.

Written in the
gothic style of Mary Shelley and linking with elements present in the original
book, this is a really interesting take on the Frankenstein legend.It weaves around the story in a creative and
dark way speaking with the voice of the doomed Friedrich, who only wants his
life back.On realising that nothing
will ever be the same again, he begins to track Dr Frankenstein to prevent him
from taking the life of anyone else, coming across some other bizarre events
and people which alter his perceptions of the world.

Despite being a
monster’s eye view of the world, Zeltserman manages to combine the gruesome and
twisted world of Frankenstein with some poignant observations about
mankind.The story is interesting and
creatively written and I would recommend it to anyone who likes to look at
things with a different perspective and an opposing view.Excellent reading.

------

Reviewer: Amanda Brown

Dave Zeltsermanis the Shamus award winning
author of 'Julius Katz', and the Ellery Queen's Readers Choice Award winner for
'Archie's Been Framed'. His 'man out of prison' crime thriller series features
the novels Small Crimes, Pariah and Killer, with Small Crimes
being selected by NPR as one of the five best crime novels of 2008 and by the
Washington Post as one of the best novels of 2008, and Pariah selected by the Washington Post as one of the best novels of
2009. His novel The Caretaker of Lorne
Field was short listed by the ALA
for best horror novel of 2010 as well as being nominated for a Black Quill
Award for best dark genre novel of the year. His crime novels Outsourced and A Killer's Essencehave both
been optioned for film.

Tuesday, 29 April 2014

In 109 AD Pliny the Younger has just arrived as Governor of Bithynia,
appointed to this position by Emperor Trajan. The task is onerous since Bithynia is known
as a cesspit of sedition, full of corruption and with a Greek population that
hates the Romans who now rule.

The death of Balbus, a rich Roman citizen, on a
desolate hillside is regarded as murder - he has a broken neck and crushed
vertebrae - but, strangely, his expensive clothing and rings have not been
taken. The

likelihood that he rode with a companion to this spot
is another peculiar fact. Pliny and his household of secretary, lictors, doctor
and slaves must investigate. Pliny's wife, Calpurnia, and her maid, Ione, must
manage life surrounded by the idle and inquisitive wives of local officials so
it is probably not surprising that Calpurnia becomes withdrawn and unhappy.
Pliny wonders at the cause of her depression and has her
bled to balance her humours. But perhaps there is more to this?

The presence of various religious groups adds to the
problems with earthquakes offering even more complications to the mix. The
story really winds around as Pliny tries to make sense of events while trying
also to deal with the endemic corruption. The knowledge of the Roman world at
this time shown by Bruce Macbain is impressive but he is a
Classics and Ancient History graduate.

------

Reviewer: Jennifer
Palmer

Bruce Macbain has published one previous book in this
series - RomanGames.

Bruce MacBain was
born in Chicago, Illinois, the only child of a chorus girl and a public
relations man—a fact which had surprisingly little effect on his future
calling. As a child, he squandered whole days (when other boys were at the
playground working on their jump shot) in reading science fiction and history.
Greek and Roman history held a special fascination for him and this led
eventually to acquiring a master's degree in Classical Studies and a doctorate
in Ancient History. As an assistant professor of Classics, he taught courses in
Late Antiquity and Roman religion—which is a particular interest of his—and
published a few impenetrable scholarly monographs, which almost no one read. He
eventually left academe and turned to teaching English as a second language, a
field he was trained in while serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Borneo in the 60s.Macbain has lately turned to writing historical mysteries set in ancient
Rome, featuring
the senatorial letter-writer Pliny the Younger as his protagonist, assisted by
other literary figures such as the poet Martial and the biographer Suetonius.

Jennifer Palmer Throughout my reading life crime
fiction has been a constant interest; I really enjoyed my 15 years as an
expatriate in the Far East, the Netherlands
& the USA
but occasionally the solace of closing my door to the outside world and sitting
reading was highly therapeutic. I now lecture to adults on historical topics
including Famous Historical Mysteries.

This is a serious
warning:don’t begin this book if you
have a meal, a meeting or an urgent appointment any time soon.You won’t make it.

This wonderful Swedish thriller begins with Daniel Brandt
receiving a letter from his twin brother, Max.The brothers were brought up mainly apart, meeting only on their shared
birthday, and Max’s bizarre behaviour in the past means that Daniel regards any
contact with wariness.However Max is
now in a Swiss clinic which is helping him manage his bi-polar disorder, and
all he’s asking Daniel to do is visit.When Daniel arrives at the heavily-guarded Himmelstal, Max persuades him
to change places, just for a few days, so that Max can leave to sort out his
finances ... except that he doesn’t return, and when Daniel tries to persuade
the doctors that he isn’t Max, nobody believes him.

The set-up’s a compelling one – twin swaps and identity loss
are a sure-fire draw.Daniel’s likeable
straight away as a decent guy with problems of his own.Anyone who’s ever played sibling power games
(and that’s all sibs) will sympathise with his ambivalence about Max’s
intentions.When he’s tricked into
staying, as Max, then you’re willing him to prove his identity.However as he’s drawn into the reality of ‘Heaven Valley’,
identity becomes less important than escape from the twisted reality.

The (translated) prose is simple and compelling, the
description of the alpine scenery atmospheric.The characters are intriguingly bizarre, and increasingly sinister,
until you’re as unsure as Daniel who he can trust.This book is a straight roller-coaster ride,
moving through action to discovery and more discovery.It’s not particularly gruesome.There are no fashionable flashbacks, and the
third-person narration is generally centred on Daniel, with the occasional move
to Dr Obermann’s head.The author knows
she’s thought up a terrific story, and she gets on with holding her audience spell-bound.Enjoy.

------

Reviewer: Marsali
Taylor

Marie Hermanson was born in Sweden in 1956. Shepublished her first book in 1986. Her novels are huge
bestsellers in Sweden.
She lives in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Marsali Taylor grew up near Edinburgh,
and came to Shetland as a newly-qualified teacher. She is currently a part-time
teacher on Shetland's scenic west side, living with her husband and two
Shetland ponies. Marsali is a qualified STGA tourist-guide who is fascinated by
history, and has published plays in Shetland's distinctive dialect, as well as
a history of women's suffrage in Shetland. She's also a keen sailor who enjoys
exploring in her own 8m yacht, and an active member of her local drama
group.Marsali also does a regular
monthly column for the Mystery People e-zine.

Sunday, 27 April 2014

When Jack Till is hired
by the parents of a murdered escort, Catherine Hamilton, his initial review
suggests it was a robbery gone wrong. But the private investigator soon
realises that there's a lot more to this case than meets the eye.

With five slim, strawberry blonde high class escorts killed
in five cities, Jack quickly sees that they are all very similar in appearance
and searches online to find the next victim. What he doesn't expect to see is a
photo of Kyra, another slim, strawberry blonde high class escort wearing
Catherine Hamilton's jewellery. Would a robber gift his spoils to another
escort? Would a client even do that? Or is it more like the behaviour of a
boyfriend?

Jack arranges to meet Kyra and is horrified to find that she
is murdered within hours of their rendezvous - and that he let the man he saw
leaving Kyra's house get away.

But is this case really about a serial killer with a fetish
for strawberry blonde women? Or are they just a cover for other criminal
activities? Unimpressed with the lead police officers working the case, Jack
gets more deeply involved. At the same time, the reader is introduced to the
murderer and shown the truth behind his actions.

Despite needing some leaps of faith, this is an engaging
tale that presents both the hero and the anti-hero as skilled, attractive and
confident - the only difference really seems to be the depth of compassion they
have each have for their fellow human beings, which is an interesting point to
deliberate; whether our relationships with other people are really all that
define us in the end.

Described by Stephen King as "high-voltage shocks,
vivid characters and compelling narratives", this reader would summarise
the tale as a pleasantly diverting and not too taxing story that plunges the
reader into a well constructed, believable world where, like gladiators, it all
comes down to who wants it most in the end.

------

Reviewer: Joanna Leigh

Thomas Perry was
born in Tonawanda, New York in 1947. He received a B.A. from Cornell University
in 1969 and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Rochester
in 1974. He has worked as a park maintenance man, factory laborer, commercial
fisherman, university administrator and teacher, and a writer and producer of
prime time network television shows. Heis the
author of 21 novels. He won the Edgar for The Butcher's Boy, and
Metzger's Dog was a New York Times Notable Book. The Independent Mystery Bookseller's
Association included Vanishing Act in its "100 Favorite Mysteries of the
20th Century," and Nightlife was a New York Times bestseller. Metzger's
Dog was voted one of NPR's 100 Killer Thrillers--Best Thrillers Ever. He lives
in Southern California.

www.thomasperryauthor.com.

Joanna Leigh studied French and German at university. She works in
the aerospace industry and is a chartered marketer in the UK. She describes herself as a
voracious reader, enjoying genres as varied as crime thrillers, historical
fiction and autobiographies. Joanna lives in London. She is the daughter of crime thriller
writer Leigh Russell.

This is a crime novel in
its purest sense, the story of a criminal entangled in a greater level of crime
than he wished for, and I was gripped from the first, elegant sentence: When I was a kid I often messed this up.The narrator, Nishimura, is a pickpocket, and
we’re drawn to sympathise with him by the bleakness of his life and the
dreamlike element of his fears, the ‘tower’ from the end of his street that
oversees his misdeeds.During the novel
we learn of his old friend and partner, Ishikawa, and his lost lover, Saeko,
and we also meet the young boy who represents what Nishimura once was, and who
can, perhaps, be saved from becoming what he now is.

The story is fresh, compelling; the writing is taut and
filled with a spare beauty; the simple sentences keep you reading quickly on to
find out what is going to happen next.The book works on several levels: as a crime story, as a psychological
study, as a fable.I enjoyed reading it
very much, and it will resonate in my head for some time to come

------

Reviewer: Marsali
Taylor

Fuminori Nakamuraborn in Aichi on 2 September 1977. Nakamura
came to international attention when he won the 2010 Kenzaburo Oe Prize for his
novel, The Thief . The English translation of the novel was well
received. The Wall Street Journal called the book a "chilling
philosophical thriller" and included it in its Best Fiction of 2012,

Marsali Taylor grew up near Edinburgh,
and came to Shetland as a newly-qualified teacher. She is currently a part-time
teacher on Shetland's scenic west side, living with her husband and two
Shetland ponies. Marsali is a qualified STGA tourist-guide who is fascinated by
history, and has published plays in Shetland's distinctive dialect, as well as
a history of women's suffrage in Shetland. She's also a keen sailor who enjoys
exploring in her own 8m yacht, and an active member of her local drama
group.Marsali also does a regular
monthly column for the Mystery People e-zine.

Thursday, 24 April 2014

Laura Lippman is known for
her wonderful series featuring PI. Tess Monaghan, among other terrific
books. So I started this book believing it to be a murder mystery,
especially as it begins with the discovery of a dead body. But then it
appeared that I was wrong, that it was instead a very interesting character
study, or rather 'studies,' dealing as it does with a dysfunctional family, the
wife and three daughters (as well as their significant others) of a fascinating man, Felix Brewer, rarely seen in these pages, the husband and
father of these women, and others who were close to him. These latter
included the lawyer and bail bondsman who were his best friends since their
Baltimore high school days, and Julie, the younger mistress with whom he had
cheated on his wife for several years as the story opens, which story
encompasses a 35-year period.

Felix met Bernadette ("Bambi") when she was 19 years old at a Valentine's
Day dance and quickly swept her off her feet, marrying her soon after.
(Valentine's Day, New Year's Eve, when Felix and Bambi married, and July 4th
are significant dates in the story.) A bookmaker, he keeps her in very
comfortable surroundings until he is arrested, convicted, and about to start
serving a prison term when, on July 4th, 1976, he vanishes, with no clue as to
his plans or his whereabouts, leaving his wife relatively impoverished, his
mistress slightly less so. Ten years later, to the day, Julie vanishes as
well, her dead body found soon after. The present-day narration begins 26
years later, when Roberto ("Sandy")
Sanchez, the Cuban-born retired Baltimore
cop who, as a consultant working on cold cases for the police department, picks
up the murder file.

If all this was was a book encompassing character studies of each of these, it
would very interesting reading. But that would be selling Ms. Lippman
quite short: She has rendered a fascinating mystery, dealing with
Brewer's disappearance, his mistress' murder, and the complex stories of the
lives of these people, the detective on the case as well as all the others who
make up the suspect group, each rendered in fine detail. Infidelity, in
several manifestations, plays a large role in the plot. The author has
fashioned an ending that you won't see coming, even when you're sure you
do. (Parenthetically, the tie-in to Tess Monaghan near the book's end was
a delight.) As with all Ms. Lippman's books, this one too is highly recommended.

------

Reviewer: Gloria Feit

Laura Lippmanwas a reporter for twenty
years, including twelve years at The (Baltimore)
Sun. She began writing novels while working fulltime and published seven books
about "accidental PI" Tess Monaghan before leaving daily journalism
in 2001. Her work has been awarded the Edgar &reg;, the Anthony, the
Agatha, the Shamus, the Nero Wolfe, Gumshoe and Barry awards. She also has been
nominated for other prizes in the crime fiction field, including the Hammett
and the Macavity. She was the first-ever recipient of the Mayor's Prize for
Literary Excellence and the first genre writer recognized as Author of the Year
by the Maryland Library Association. Ms. Lippman grew up in Baltimore and attended city schools through
ninth grade. After graduating from Wilde
Lake High
School in Columbia, Md., Ms. Lippman attended Northwestern University's
Medill School ofJournalism. Her other
newspaper jobs included the Waco Tribune-Herald and the San Antonio Light. Ms.
Lippman returned to Baltimore
in 1989 and has lived there since.

Ted and Gloria Feitlive in Long Beach, NY, a few miles outside New York City. For 26 years, Gloria was
the manager of a medium-sized litigation firm in lower Manhattan. Her husband, Ted, is an attorney
and former stock analyst, publicist and writer/editor for, over the years,
several daily, weekly and monthly publications. Having always been avid
mystery readers, and since they're now retired, they're able to indulge that
passion. Their reviews appear online as well as in three print
publications in the UK
and US. On a more personal note: both having been widowed, Gloria and Ted
have five children and nine grandchildren between them.

Oli Munson -
Committee Member Of The Agents Association
talks to Leigh Russell

Leigh:You work tirelessly to support authors. What drew you to this career path?

Oli:A desire to work closely with creative people and to help manage their careers.

Leigh: Should authors build an online presence, or is it merely a distraction from writing?

Oli:Much is made of authors needing to be social media savvy and I think it does help build an author's career. Authors have never been more accessible to their fans around the world. But there are plenty of successful authors who don't tweet and still sell millions of copies. But I would say if you are going to enter the world of social media, I don't think there's any point dipping your toe in the water. You have to go all in, tweet regularly and interact with people: don't use it exclusively for self-promotion.

Leigh: What advice would you offer to authors, both new and established?

Oli:Stay market aware and don't be afraid to step back, re-evaluate and freshen-up what you're writing. I think that's particularly true with long running crime series. I think as fans of crime fiction, we all have read
authors who by the time the 10th book in a series comes around, it feels like they’re just phoning it in.

Leigh:How do you see the future for self-published authors, and for the traditionally published?

Oli:Very bright indeed, for both. Some people might fear working during a time of perceived change and flux but I love that we're working in a time of great flexibility. Authors can only benefit from that.

Leigh:I have seen serious discussions online about whether all writers are insane. What do you think?

Oli:Sure, maybe a little. In a "You don't have to be crazy to work here but it helps" kind of way.

Leigh:Finally, in one sentence, what does the Association of Agents offer its members?

Oli:Support and a forum to discuss the major publishing issues of the day

Wednesday, 23 April 2014

Published by Troubador Publishing, August
2013. ISBN: 978-1-78088-575-9

The dean stands over the body of
a ex-student, who he knows was killed by a person wearing a duck mask.When his secretary walks in he is standing
over the dead body, gun in hand.He then
runs and the body has disappeared by the time the police get there.

This is a really unusual
story about Dean Ansari, not a killer but a frightened fugitive who runs as far
away as he can.Without knowing why
someone has been killed and confused by the fact that no paper has reported his
escape from justice he leaves the country that he knows well and transplants
himself to India
and beyond.What happens as he travels
is that his experiences widen and he meets a variety of interesting and
sometimes unsavoury characters.

This is not really a book
about the murder, though it is the thread that runs through the story.Mostly, it is about a man finding out about
the world and his own resourcefulness in the face of adversity.He is followed by a resourceful policeman
who is nicely painted as someone who believes in the Dean’s innocence, but is
determined to follow him anyway.

Really interesting book,
with characters who are deliberately larger than life and caricatures to carry
the story forward in a funny and eccentric way.For me there are some elements of charm which so carried the No 1 Ladies
Detective Agency novels into the hearts of the public.Quirky and fun to read with some outright
laughs at the antics of the Dean and his naivety.

------

Reviewer: Amanda Brown

John Wilsonwas involved
in legal education for over 35 years in various capacities. He currently lives
with his wife in Greenbrae,
California, and has three
children.

Marylebone Police Station, 1968.Cathal Breen, the station misfit, has just left his partner down by
running away from a knife-wielding burglar.To get him away from the taunts of coward, his boss sends him to
investigate the corpse of a naked young woman ... except that her death’s not
as simple as it seems.

This police
procedural takes the reader straight back into the other side of the
psychadelic 1960s: the police corruption and incompetence, the non-stop sexist
and racist comments, the lack of all the technology that’s taken for granted
today.Breen is diffident, old-fashioned
(he doesn’t even have a favourite Beatle!) and principled, not willing to
accept the obvious answers; his new partner, WPC Tozer, has the entree into the
Beatles fan club, likes modern music and parties, and is, shockingly, on the
pill.Real events – John Lennon being
charged with drug use, the Biafran war – are woven into the storyline, and the
period detail is well-researched.The
plot moves smoothly along, with an interesting variety of suspects and good
action sequences, but it’s not a sixties-style thriller; it has a much more
modern edge to it.

An interesting
police procedural that gives a real feel of station life in the sixties.

-----

Reviewer: Marsali Taylor

William Shaw was born in Newton Abbot, Devon,
and lived for sixteen years in Hackney. For over twenty years he has written on
popular culture and sub-culture for various publications including the Observer
and the New York Times. A Song from Dead
Lips is his first novel. He lives in Brighton.

Marsali Taylor grew up near Edinburgh, and came to Shetland as a
newly-qualified teacher. She is currently a part-time teacher on Shetland's
scenic west side, living with her husband and two Shetland ponies. Marsali is a
qualified STGA tourist-guide who is fascinated by history, and has published
plays in Shetland's distinctive dialect, as well as a history of women's suffrage
in Shetland. She's also a keen sailor who enjoys exploring in her own 8m yacht,
and an active member of her local drama group.Marsali also does a regular monthly column for the Mystery People
e-zine.

This novel is set in the Swedish city of Gothenburg. It begins with the murder of the
extremely wealthy Kjell B:son Ceder and the discovery of his body by his wife,
the beautiful and much younger Sanna Kaegler-Ceder in the couple's luxurious
seaside villa. The crime is investigated by Detective Inspector Irene Huss and
her longtime friend and colleague Detective Inspector Tommy Persson and other
members of the team under the direction of the grumpy Superintendent Sven
Andersson. Ceder's money had come not only from the various hotels that he
owned but also from his first wife who had died in a rather dubious boating
accident which had never been properly investigated. Then the team are called
on to investigate two more murders: Joachim Rothstaahl and Philip Bergman. That
investigation reveals that both men had business links with Sanna in an online
venture that gone down in the dot.com boom and bust of the late 90s. It seems
that Sanna has some explaining to do; furthermore, the revelation through DNA
analysis that Ceder was not the biological father of her little boy Ludwig
raises queries about the nature of the relationship between him and Sanna.
Moreover, another person involved in the ill-fated dot.com venture, Thomas
Bonetti, had taken out a sizeable amount of the company's capital but had then
disappeared – where is he? The facts as Irene unravels them reveal wrong-doing
in the past and become more and more complex. Her search for the truth take her
to Paris and an encounter with the less than helpful Inspector Verdier of the
Paris police and to considerable danger to Irene herself.

This is a good addition to
the ranks of Scandinavian crime fiction with an interesting array of believable
characters. The account of the rise and fall of the ill-fated dot.com venture
is convincing and comprehensible. Recommended.

------

Reviewer: Radmila May

Other novels by the author: Detective
Irene Huss, The Torso, The
Glass Devil, Night Round, The Fire Dance

Helene Tursten is the author of the Irene Huss series.The series has been adapted into a film and
TV series in Sweden.
She lives in Goitenborg.

Monday, 21 April 2014

Published by Maclehose Press, 21 November
2013. ISBN: 978-1-906694-36-4

In a thick fog in the Po Valley
in Northern Italy, there is a crash on the
autostrada involving numerous vehicles some of which contained cattle which
escape and cause chaos. And a badly charred corpse is found lying on the verge.
Inspector Soneri of the Parma
police is in charge of the case. The corpse is later identified as being that
of a young Rumanian woman, Nina Iliescu, her death nothing to do with the
autostrada mayhem but clearly murder. Meanwhile, an elderly Rumanian man is
found dead of natural causes on a coach from Bucharest. He, it transpires, was Nina's
grandfather but why was he coming to Italy? Soneri's investigations lead
him to a camp where Italian gypsies and Rumanian Roma live side by side in a
state of mutual hostility united only by a wall of silence against outsiders.
He also tracks down Nina's various lovers all ensnared by her beauty. But were
they using Nina or was she using them? In a fog of false allegations and and
deceit, paralleled by the pervading fog typical of the region in winter, Soneri
has to clear up the confusion while atthe same time trying to maintain his relationship with his mercurial
lover Angela. He strikes up a friendship with the elderly Marchese Sbarazzo,
once a rich aristocrat but now a penniless vagrant, with a penchant for gnomic
philosophizing which sometimes obscures, sometimes enlightens Soneri's search
for the truth. In contrast, the observations of the plain-speaking
investigating magistrate, Dottoressa Marcotti, provide welcome moments of
clarity.

An interesting addition to the growing number of Italian crime writers now
available in English translations who cast light on lesser-known aspects of
their country's society.

Other Soneri novels by the author: River
of Shadows and The Dark Valley

-----

Reviewer: Radmila May

Valerio Varesi has
been the Parma
correspondent for La Stampa and La Repubblica. Gold, Frankincense and Dust is
the third in a series of thrillers featuring Commissario Soneri.

Sunday, 20 April 2014

When an elderly deranged brother
and sister start shooting from their apartment into the street below it is
Inspector Montalbano of the Sicilian police who enters the flat and deals with
the situation. Not only does media coverage turn Montalbano into a television
hero but also publicises in loving detail the squalid chaos of the apartment,
in particular a lifesize inflatable doll which seems to have been sexually
mutilated. However, once the couple have been taken to a lunatic asylum, there
is little to do either on the case or generally as crime in Vigata appears to
be on the wane. But then Montalbano receives a strange missive in the form of a
doggerel riddle. The solution takes him to a dustbin in a quiet suburb
containing what at first appears to be a corpse but which then turns out to be
another sexually mutilated inflatable doll. Irritated yet made uneasy by this
and by receiving yet more doggerel riddles and feeling that he is being
manipulated and also anxious to get away to his far-distant long-suffering
girlfriend Livia, he accepts an offer of help from the youthful Arturo Pennisi
in solving the riddles. Meanwhile, Montalbano's efforts to get rid of the dolls
lead some people such as his respectable housekeeper Adelina to believe that
they are real corpses while others, like his colleagues Fazio and Augello,
think that Montalbano has been driven by sexual abstinence to use the dolls as
sex toys. Adelina;s criminal son Pasquale even sends along an obliging
prostitute which causes a misunderstanding between Montalbano and his neighbour
Ingrid. But when an elderly father comes to Montalbano to report the
disappearance of his daughter and Montalbano realises that the girl who is
blond, slim and beautful bears all too close a resemblance to the dolls, farce
turns to tragedy and Montalbano has to act swiftly and risk his own life to
discover the strange and terrible truth.

This is the sixteenth Montalbano mystery and as full of warmth and humanity
as the others. The affection between Montalbano and his colleagues, even the
bumbling Catarella, is as strong as ever while the descriptions of the Sicilian
delicacies consumed by Montalbano are, as usual, mouthwatering.

Other Montalbano mysteries by the author include The Shape of Water,
The Tewrracotta Dog, The Age of Doubt and The Dance of the
Seagull.

-----

Reviewer: Radmila May

Andrea Camilleri is
one of Italy's
most famous contemporary writers. His Montalbano series has been adapted for
Italian television and translated into nine languages. He lives in Rome. Stephen Sartarelli
is an award-winning translator. He is also the author of three books of poetry,
most recently The Open Vault. He
lives in France.

Detective Jackson isn’t having a
good week.His teenage daughter has
taken to drink, and he’s in charge of a homicide case – the death of an ex-con
involved in a bank robbery.The other
perp was shot by the cops, and $125,000 went missing ...He’s also got to work with FBI agent Carla
Rivers over a firebomb in a local factory, thought to be planted by local
activists Love the Earth, who’re being investigated by an undercover
agent.

This police procedural gave a real sense of all the people
involved in an investigation, with the interesting addition of an FBI
involvement.The book begins with a cast
list, but the author introduced each character well, so that I didn’t need to
refer to it.Jackson was an interesting and sympathetic
cop (though what is it about policemen that they only ever seem to have
daughters?) and I enjoyed learning about Rivers.There was a good feel of a different area of America – Eugene,
Oreg. The book was fast moving, cutting from police to FBI, and the plot was
beautifully pulled together at the end of the book, with a surprise perp.

This is the eighth book in the Detective Jackson series, and
for me, coming new to it, it was slightly over-loaded with back story and
series characters.I’d definitely
recommend the series, but if you’re new to L J Seller too, and enjoy American
police procedurals, then I’d start at the beginning with The Sex Club.

------

Reviewer: Marsali
Taylor

L J Sellers writes
the bestselling Detective Jackson mystery/thriller series, a Readers Favorite
award winner, as well as provocative standalone thrillers. Her novels have been
highly praised by Mystery Scene, Crimespree, and RT
Reviews, and her Jackson
books are Kindle bestsellers as well as top-ranked novels. L.J., who resides in
Eugene, Oregon
where her novels are set, is also an award-winning journalist who earned the
Grand Neal. When not plotting murders, she enjoys standup comedy, cycling,
social networking, and attending mystery conferences. She’s also been known to
jump out of airplanes.

Marsali Taylor grew
up near Edinburgh,
and came to Shetland as a newly-qualified teacher. She is currently a part-time
teacher on Shetland's scenic west side, living with her husband and two
Shetland ponies. Marsali is a qualified STGA tourist-guide who is fascinated by
history, and has published plays in Shetland's distinctive dialect, as well as
a history of women's suffrage in Shetland. She's also a keen sailor who enjoys
exploring in her own 8m yacht, and an active member of her local drama
group.Marsali also does a regular
monthly column for the Mystery People e-zine.

About Me

From an early age I have been a lover of crime fiction. Discovering like minded people at my first crime conference at St Hilda’s Oxford in 1997, I was delighted when asked to join a new group for the promotion of female crime writers. In 1998 I took over the running of the group, which I did for the next thirteen years.
During that time I organised countless events promoting crime writers and in particular new writers. But apart from the sheer joy of reading, ‘I actually love books, not just the writing, the plot or the characters, but the sheer joy of holding a book has never abated for me. The greatest gift of my life has been the ability to read'.